The Holiday Roster Freeze took effect Thursday night at 11:59 pm local time,essentially barring trades and other moves from happening. It is not lifted again until December 28 at 12:01am local time. So, what can and can't happened during that time? Here's a bit of a breakdown.
First, the rules as they are written in the NHL's collective bargaining agreement with players:
(i) For all Players on an NHL Active Roster, Injured Reserve, or Players with Non-Roster and Injured Non-Roster status as of 11:59 p.m. local time on December 19, a roster freeze shall apply through 12:01 a.m. local time December 28, with respect to Waivers, Trades and Loans; provided, however, that Players may be Recalled to NHL Clubs during this period and, provided further, that if a Player is placed on Regular Waivers prior to the roster freeze period and is claimed during such roster freeze period, the roster freeze period shall not apply and the Player shall immediately report to the claiming Club. However, during the roster freeze period a Club can make any Player transactions necessary for the Club to come into compliance with Article 50 as a result of a Player being removed from the Bona-Fide Long-Term Injury/Illness Exception.(ii) Notwithstanding Section 16.5(d)(i), a Player on emergency Recall may be Loaned during the roster freeze period and a Player who was Recalled after December 11 may be Loaned through 11:59 p.m. local time on December 23, provided such Player is not required to be placed on Waivers during the roster freeze period in order to effectuate such Loan.
(iii) No later than ten (10) days before the holiday roster freeze, the League shall provide the NHLPA with a holiday roster freeze and restricted day memorandum.
Fairly straightforward. No trades, putting players on waivers or sending players to the AHL during the freeze. It's meant to give players a bit of break during the Holidays without them having to worry about moving, finding new homes or ending up with a new team while trying to spend time with family and friends during Christmas, or whatever they happen to celebrate.
Now, the exceptions. If someone is placed on waivers Thursday prior to the freeze coming into place, and they are claimed, they still report to their new team. Emergency call-ups are fine should a regular roster player get injured. Players can also be sent down to the AHL if they were called up for an emergency, provided they don't need to be placed on waivers in order to make it happen. Anyone brought up on a regular recall as of December 11th is eligible to be sent down through December 23rd at 11:59 PM local time. Section 16.5(d)(i) of the CBA grants teams the ability to make any transactions necessary in order to get back into salary cap compliance after activating a player off long-term injury reserve. Teams using that provision are allowed to exceed the cap during that time but must get back under it in order to bring the injured player back onto the active roster.
Outside of these exceptions, players shouldn't have to worry about movement and get to enjoy some downtime in the midst of a stressful, grueling NHL season.
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